As a companion article to “TSP Fund Variability”, I’ve pulled together the same monthly data into barcharts, from the inception of the respective funds to the present.

Below, you will find individual bar charts for the G, F, and C Funds, since their inception. I then provide a chart of all three together, to see the relative changes over time.

Scroll over the charts to see information on specific months.

And here they are together on the same graph. Note that funds can be toggled on and off in the legend, and there is a range slider to help adjust the view:

What is notable is the volatility of C Fund monthly changes in value compared to the G Fund and, to a lesser extent, the F Fund. Yet, despite the huge drops in the early 2000s and again in 2008-2009 - or better said, because of huge drops during those timeframes - investors enjoyed significant returns in later years as seen in “TSP Fund Returns”.

There is signficant volatility in the stock funds versus the bond funds, but significant return by investing steadily in them over the very-long term.

And here is a bar chart representing the monthly changes in value of the S and I Funds since their inception in 2001 to present, also with a range slider:

Lastly, here is a bar chart representing the monthly changes in value of the L Funds (Income-2040) since their inception in August 2005 to present, also with a range slider. (See this post on the over-all returns of the L Funds if investing since their inception.)

Related topics: long-term-investing c-fund f-fund g-fund s-fund i-fund l-funds